


Crack My Skull, Rearrange Me

by flickerjax (Stone_Princess)



Category: Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: Apparently I'm willing to go down with this trashcan of a ship, Bottom Hux, Dark, Emperor Hux, Force Bond (Star Wars), Hux didn't know he was a bottom, Inappropriate Use of the Force, Light Angst, M/M, Ren is almost playful, Some Plot, Vaguely in canon, because evil space boyfriends are evil, it's sorta angsty and dark, there's space kung fu fighting
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-10
Updated: 2016-02-10
Packaged: 2018-05-19 11:42:21
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,032
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5966122
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Stone_Princess/pseuds/flickerjax
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>What Hux never could have anticipated was where the knowledge that Ren was a person would take him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Crack My Skull, Rearrange Me

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to [supergrover24](https://archiveofourown.org/users/supergrover24/) for reading me drunk and again sober and liking it both ways, and for eternally listening to me natter about new fandoms (she's definitely the better half of our brain). And to [poultrymunitions](https://archiveofourown.org/users/PoultryMunitions/) for a beta that almost made me kneel and submit. Remaining errors are my own, florid prose is no reflection of either of their gorgeous faces. Title from The National’s _It Never Happened_.

* * *

Kylo Ren was a means to an end. Nothing more than a tool, as unstable as it was useful, that Snoke had saddled General Hux with to hasten the rise of the First Order and the destruction of the Republic. As valuable as he was irritating, Hux rarely gave Ren a second thought unless required to. Masked and dedicatedly on task, Ren was subhuman at best. Not to be trifled with, but neither to be given consideration beyond the results he brought like suitably vicious yet useful beast of burden.

Snoke’s position as Supreme Leader was immutable. Hux’s rapid rise to the top rank in the First Order wasn’t far enough for the General. It was only a military rank. When they destroyed the Republic, when the rule of law was returned to civilization, someone would be called to lead all. Hux knew his destiny was to become that Emperor of the new age.

A man who desired to be Emperor of the known systems had few associates he could consider equals. The Supreme Leader had the power and influence Hux needed, plus their shared common goal. Everyone else was a future subject, lesser, bound only to serve Hux in some way.

It wasn’t luck that has brought Hux so far at a young age. He’d used his family connections, he’d studied and trained, excelled in every art, martial and academic, made himself fit to be a ruler. But that had never been enough. There were always other challengers at every rank, people to be disposed of, politically or literally.

Not one to get his hands dirty if it wasn’t necessary, Hux learned, with his other ruling skills, how to set in motion machinations that brought contenders down through their own folly. Politics meant Hux could never sever ties with the rich and powerful. But he could always do what was necessary to maintain his position. Done right, no one ever looked his way when his rivals vanished, one by one.

Lonely at the top didn’t matter when Hux’s goals meant so much more. Still whining sycophants, eager to get what they could from him, left him cold in the bedroom. In a weak moment Hux thought he’d found someone who understood him in Tuana.

It was the last mistake Hux made. Tuana did not understand the divine right with which Hux would one day rule, the right which gave Hux the power to determine who would not be allowed to impede his progress to the throne. The blackmail was so petty, so beneath both of them that Hux took Tuana’s life with his bare hands. His satisfaction was the terror in Tuana’s eyes before the lifeforce went out of him. The dead didn’t whisper secrets.

It was then Hux knew with certainty he would never find an equal in ambition or understanding. There were a few he could trust, like Phasma, and none he could confide in. As it should be. Hux’s ambition was so strong now that it had burned away all his other emotions. 

Now, in the Supreme Leader’s chamber, Kylo Ren stood unmasked. It was the first hint of weakness Ren had ever shown, looking down when Hux entered. Curiosity pricked at the edge of Hux’s thoughts, taunting him to turn and examine the true face of this Knight. A man of exceptional discipline, Hux kept his eyes forward until they were dismissed. 

It was tactical of course, Ren keeping himself covered. Removed and aloof. The _Finalizer_ ’s crew feared him, not just for his violent outbursts, but because no one knew quite what Ren was. But Hux knew now: human and therefore fallible.

As they exited the chamber, Ren kept pace with Hux. Unable to ignore the opportunity, Hux faced Kylo Ren just outside the door.

“Do you need anything from me to complete your mission?”

Ren’s wide, expressive mouth twitched at one corner before stilling into a firm line as he studied Hux with large, dark eyes.

Tipping his head formally, Ren spoke, “I’ll let you know, General, if I need you.” Without his mask Ren’s voice was devastatingly human, youthful, and carefully modulated. 

Kylo Ren walked away without another word, lifting the mask and settling it on his head again before he turned out of Hux’s view.

As everything surged toward the completion of the weapon at Starkiller base, when their goal was so near at hand, Hux needed to know if he had a true ally in the comrade Snoke had given him. Was a confederate behind those striking eyes, or would lies come from those thick, full lips?

It was best for the future of the First Order that Hux know as much about Kylo Ren as possible.

⟠

Aboard the _Finalizer_ Kylo Ren was a specter, he was everywhere and nowhere. Not only did his mask conceal his face, but he was invisible aboard the ship when he wasn’t engaged with interrogations or sweeping into random corridors all over the ship without warning, terrorizing junior officers at the sudden, clomping approach of his heavy boots.

The location of Ren’s official quarters onboard were public knowledge, but Hux had no professional reason to visit, nor any belief that Ren simply sat quietly in his room when he was not wreaking destruction on a control panel or a prisoner. Insisting to himself that his dedication was nothing more than refined tactics of discovery, Hux pored over assignments and reservations for every shared public chamber on the ship, finally locating Kylo Ren in the empty spaces where no one else was.

When Hux followed the pattern of unmarked, unassigned places to the combat training facility it was middle watch. Planet-side it would be those long dark hours between the chronometer restarting at zero and dawn, shipboard it was only the silent lull while most the crew slept before alpha shift roused for the first meal.

The facility’s observation gallery was dark and empty, offering seats and an unobstructed view of the well-lit training mats. Clad only in a black singlet and matching loose short pants Kylo Ren was alone in the room, moving through the higher forms of the Echani art. Out of his robes his obvious grace was on stark display. Spinning kicks landed lightly, defensive moves against an unseen attacker spun through more smoothly than any Whirling Kavadango dance Hux had ever seen performed.

Hux found himself mentally reciting the names of each form, a lulling chant he had been taught as a child when his own martial arts practice had begun. Each was executed so flawlessly by Ren that it was like an instructional holo, not a simple human exercise. Ren was by no means delicate, his skill alone would have made him formidable, but his size and finely honed musculature made him look lethal on the practice floor. In stillness there was something royal in Ren’s bearing, beyond grace, poised self-possession in the way he held himself.

Kylo Ren’s body demanded attention but his face captivated Hux. Unobserved—Ren never acknowledged Hux’s presence in the shadows—Hux was able to stare as long as he pleased. Mouth too wide, eyes too tender, aquiline nose, each feature seemingly disproportionate, but taken together it was a haughty, handsome visage. Brow furrowed in concentration every time he stepped into primary form to start a new flow, Ren’s bared face was slack with pleasure after he landed complicated moves at the end of each set. Hux lost track of time, mesmerized as Ren hit every beat.

Eventually Ren slowed his movements, his pale skin glistening in the lights, his breathing echoing in the otherwise silent space. When Ren sat cross-legged for the ritual meditation, his back to the gallery, Hux got up to quietly make his escape. As Hux put his hand on the door’s controls, Ren’s voice rang through the room.

“Next time, General, wear the proper gear. I haven’t had a decent sparring partner in a long time.”

Hux let the door close behind him without answering.

Though only a few hours remained before he was needed on the bridge, Hux laid to rest. Sleepless, the whirl of Ren’s graceful form danced behind his eyelids. Unaware he’d dozed off, Hux woke, heart racing and cock hard. The wisps of dreams hovered, offering false memories of the heat of Ren’s skin beneath Hux’s hands, the saltiness of his sweat on Hux’s lips. The fading vision stirred something deeper, grating against the bindings of emotions so deeply buried Hux could no longer interpret them.

⟠

They were evenly matched on the lower levels of the Echani art, fighting across the mats without breaking a sweat. Hux’s blood hummed pleasantly beneath his skin as they finished the second level forms. This was where his discipline had been born, started when Hux could only just walk. He didn’t have to concentrate to move accurately through the flow of each set.

As they faced off for the next round, Kylo Ren smiled easily at Hux, the friendly way young boys did at play when they discovered similar interests. It was a kind of unspoken camaraderie Hux had never enjoyed as adult, but now it occurred to him that Kylo Ren might be the closest thing to an equal he was likely to find. Snoke’s regard for the Knight was significant, meaningful even, to Hux. Though Hux wanted no one above him in his rise to Emperor, surely Ren’s aspirations were aligned, his Force mastery could assist Hux in restoring stability in all the star systems, saving them from the dangerous anarchy of the Republic.

Ren was more at ease than Hux would have expected from someone who habitually wore a mask. Ren’s precision in each movement appeared effortless. Working through the fourth level forms, Hux became agitated, certain Ren believed him an inferior partner. He matched Hux at each strike, but pulled back fractionally as if to prevent injury to Hux. It was an insult to Hux’s own skill that couldn’t go unaddressed.

“You’re holding back, Ren. What are you afraid of?”

“Am I the one who is afraid, General?” Kylo Ren answered, sanguine.

Too smart to respond to aggravating taunts, Hux stepped into the quinary form and gestured for Ren to come at him. Feet braced apart, arms up defensively, Hux readied the complicated moves of the fifth level Echani, already prepared for the correct answering response from Ren.

Head down, Ren launched forward, knocking Hux breathless when Ren hit his midsection hard, in a move common to rough Zygerrian hand-to-hand combat.

To prove his own skill was better than a fight style barely above street fighting, Hux scrambled back and returned with a Teräs Käsi Death Weave.

“I should have expected you’d be skilled beyond the standard Academy teachings.” Ren’s eyes sparkled with amusement. Stepping forward he countered with a strong Mandalorian spinning kick. 

Hux caught it and launched his weight in opposition, Ren’s foot braced against his chest. The motion dropped them both to the floor, grappling like untrained children, reaching for any hold they could get.

Shirts tossed aside in the heat of the workout, their skin slid together and Hux struggled to maintain discipline as he battled Ren. Distracted, realizing the crisp ocean salt and lush, dark forest scent was Ren’s skin, Hux was overtaken and pinned to the mat.

Ren’s body faintly vibrated with coiled power, his knees locked tight at Hux’s hips, straddling him, as Ren leaned down, his mouth just over Hux’s. Sweat damp black hair tickled along Hux’s cheek, but Hux didn’t move. Their breath synced, not slowing as the tension grew, crackling in the small space between them. Ren relaxed until only his weight held Hux down, his knees no longer keeping his opponent restrained.

“You’re so much more than you seem, General. Or shall I just call you Armitage when we’re alone?”

When he laughed, Ren’s breath was sweet and sharp, like the minted frozen sweet cream from hot childhood summers. Hux’s body betrayed him, cock stirring, responding to Ren’s proximity. Jerking one knee up hard, Hux shifted his weight and shoved up with enough force to flip Ren over.

Walking to the door, heart hammering in his chest, Hux didn’t look back, his body burning with a need he hadn’t felt in years.

Worse, Hux couldn’t shake the sense that Kylo Ren watched him, even through the closed blast door.

⟠

In the deep quiet of middle watch the next night, Hux sat at the console in his berth, scrolling through the day’s reports. Billeting for the new troops arriving at Starkiller base. Progress reports on the weapon’s completion. Security briefings. Intelligence reports on the Resistance. The things he’d lived and breathed for years now. Key information as the First Order was about to become the greatest power in the known systems. The actions upon which the future of Hux’s career depended.

And he could not concentrate on any of it.

Pinching the bridge of his nose, Hux huffed in frustration and flicked through the controls on the table console, until he found the security cameras.

A glowing blue holo sprang to life. In 1/6th of actual size, Kylo Ren spun across the console surface. Seventh level Echani forms. Despite its small size the holo was incredibly clear. Hux could see the play of muscle across Ren’s shirtless back, the ringlets forming in his damp hair when he stood still long enough.

Hux leaned back in his chair and watched the evocative movements of the lithe warrior. Kylo Ren made the martial art into an aesthetically pleasing dance. An exceptional display of athleticism. If Hux didn’t know Ren was alone in the training room, he’d think the Knight was showing off.

When Ren finally settled into his ritual meditation, signaling the end of this night’s practice, Hux switched off the holo. The hour was late. Reports unread, correspondence unanswered, Hux readied himself for bed.

Willing his mind blank as he undressed and washed, the pretense was gone once he slid under the soft sheets on his pallet. His cock had been hard almost since the holo lit up. Ignored so long, it was throbbing and rigid against Hux’s belly.

Permitting himself the louche pleasure of self-gratification, Hux remembered the drag of Ren’s damp hair against his cheek the night before. Stroking his cock with methodical precision, Hux’s sharp memory pulled up every detail of Ren’s sinuous body, his beguiling face: a picture of a consort fit for the destined Emperor of the First Order. 

Hux’s excellent recall could only give him the semblance of clean salt and fresh green foliage. He chased the scent memory until it twisted into fantasy: _tasting Ren’s sweat and hot skin. Bare skin on skin, they wrestled until Ren pinned Hux down, straddling higher, their erections rubbing each other to leaking hardness. In an unbreakable grip, Ren held Hux’s hands above his head and flattened his free hand across Hux’s clavicle, holding him down as he mashed their mouths together in a violent kiss._

Utterly helpless to his own debauched desire, Hux closed one hand over his own throat and spilled in his other fist, panting, skin flushed and hot.

⟠

Hux glanced at the chronometer in surprise when the comms chimed, signaling a visitor to his quarters. First watch was just ending, most of the crew would be asleep. Since FN-2187’s defection and the Resistance pilot’s escape, Phasma had been extra dutiful in reporting anything out of the ordinary. Still, it was unusual for her to come to his personal quarters.

“Enter.” Granting the ship permission to admit his visitor, Hux returned his attention to his tablet, having only just made it through yesterday’s ignored reports. Today’s leftover tasks promised another late night.

“You did not come spar with me last night, General.”

Laying his viewer aside in a deliberately casual manner, as if nothing were out of the ordinary, Hux looked up into deep brown eyes, glittering with merriment and mischief, though Ren’s face was neutral.

“I have work to do, Ren.”

“And yet last night you stopped working to watch me on this very console.”

Hux’s breath caught in his throat, a fraction of a second before he schooled himself. He stood and circled the console to stand at parade rest near the door, a casual suggestion that Ren should leave.

“Did you need something from me? Some advice in finding that Resistance droid perhaps?”

Dressed in a lightweight jacket that matched his slate grey training pants, Ren pulled the chair Hux had just vacated around to the front of the console and sat facing Hux.

“You surprise me, General. I did not expect you to resist your baser nature so steadfastly. Your own control is admirable.”

“What do you want, Ren?”

“I know you understand what I can do with the Force, that I can look past your tight control and see what you hide. It’s part of why our Supreme Leader sent me to you, to ensure your loyalty. He has no need to worry on your account. You’re truly dedicated to the cause. But I see the other thoughts, too. The stolen moments before you sleep, the dreams, all the things you wish away in the morning.”

“I don’t know what you mean.”

Tension shimmered along Hux’s muscles, making him feel twitchy and aggressive. He was acutely aware of how carefully he modulated his voice, how hard he worked to sound in control. He knew, too, that Ren could see it, or sense it, however that worked. Hux said it anyway, though he loathed lying. Hux had done a poor job of concealing it, hoping sleep would wash away the desires he only exposed to himself under the cover of darkness.

Ren’s neutral expression twitched into faint amusement. “You must have known I didn’t need you as a sparring partner.” With the same effortless grace he showed on the training floor, Ren rose from the chair and advanced on Hux, stopping too close for polite conversation. “You came because of a need you can’t even acknowledge to yourself, but I see it. It hovers around you, iridescent and bright. Longing so desperate I hear it like a shout.”

The verdant salt scent of Ren’s clean skin hit Hux like an attack and he humiliated himself by stepping back when he should have held his ground.

Ren stepped closer until Hux was able to only focus on his eyes, or be forced to look away.

“I could compel you to talk or to act as I choose, but I won’t. What fun is it if you don’t come to me of your own free will?”

Spine stiff, Hux stepped back only to discover he was already at the wall and had no place to go. “You are reckless and wild. I thought Jedi were known for their control.”

Ren glared daggers for a second, distaste twisting his lips. “I’m no Jedi.”

“No, you are something else.” Hux strained for the iron voice of authority with which he always addressed his underlings, but it was out of his reach. The words came out unsteady, his voice quavering with longing to discover the answers to the mystery that was Kylo Ren.

Mischief returned to Ren’s eyes. He took a single step back and raked his gaze over Hux. “As are you. You look quite different out of uniform, Hux. Even if I didn’t know your thoughts I would think differently of you, seeing you like this, at ease in your chamber, only in this singlet.” Ren ran his finger over the thin fabric at Hux’s shoulder.

“What do you want from me?” Blood thrummed under his skin. Hux was certain Ren could hear it, was attuned to the changes in his breathing. Each loud heartbeat further defeating Hux’s carefully honed control.

“I want what you want. You came to me and now I have come to you.” Ren’s face was glass, revealing everything, or perhaps reflecting. Hux read in Ren’s liquid eyes the same animalistic desire he felt. 

Even in battle Hux stopped and examined the terrain, made a plan of attack. Kylo Ren was the opposite. Hux sensed wild abandon, a maelstrom of desire inside Ren. Beyond anarchy, more dangerous than stepping off a cliff, Hux tangled a fist into Ren’s hair and pulled him in until their lips met.

Hux’s dreams, his limited imagination, could not have prepared him for the heat in Ren’s kiss, the plush sensuality of those full lips. Ren opened, let himself be kissed, tasted, and let it go on until Hux’s passion washed away his better judgement.

Backing off, his knowing smile intact, Ren unfastened his jacket. Underneath he was shirtless. 

Frozen in place with terror at his own boldness, Hux watched Ren drop the jacket on the floor and settle with ease on Hux’s pallet. Back against the wall, Ren’s long legs were spread wide, a relaxed and wanton display. Hux’s careful control already cracked with the kiss, this was an invitation he couldn’t refuse.

⟠

Like a man possessed Hux desperately sought Ren’s kiss with carnal abandon. Facing each other, naked on the narrow pallet, Hux’s hands mapped Ren’s pliant body. Smooth skin, taut muscles bunching when Kylo moved, mouth wet and welcoming as Hux plundered it with his tongue, seeking some closeness he couldn’t articulate.

Fevered with ardor, Hux spread his legs giving access to Ren’s long fingers pressing for entrance at Hux’s hole. Ren rolled him gently, easing Hux onto his back. Reckless and greedy in a way completely foreign to him, Hux wanted that touch, that ingress, so desperately. Beyond caring why, Hux was still convinced that Ren must be manipulating him in some way to make him so crudely brazen.

Ren’s laughter rumbled into Hux’s mouth, their rapacious kisses broken just as Ren’s slicked finger breached Hux’s ass.

“It’s because you truly desire me, not because of anything I am doing, other than enjoying you.”

Hux opened his eyes at the change in Ren’s voice from amusement to reverent. The face above him was solemn.

“Taking your pleasure with whoever pleased you visually meant nothing. You never had someone worthy of you, someone you could safely give yourself to.”

Unashamed, Hux spread his legs wider, gasping as Ren’s finger stretched him. “I’ve always taken the lead before.”

“Let me show you how good it can be to be taken.”

“I thought you Force-sensitives were supposed to abstain.” Hux choked on the words as Ren worked a second finger in. The intensity was excruciating. Exerting considerable restraint, Hux focused on Ren’s answer instead of the intense yearning to hasten his own violation.

“Abstinence is for spineless Jedi. I have been studying the Sith history, trying to find where their strengths were.” Ren’s voice was breathy, hushed, sharing secrets. He lifted himself to his knees, balancing on one elbow, his face intimately close, his other hand working a punctuating rhythm, in and out of Hux’s hole. Hux strained to ignore it, keeping back from the brink of sensual oblivion.

Hux whined as Ren withdrew his fingers and reached for the flask of slippery lenitive he’d made Hux retrieve from the washroom earlier. Ren’s breath tickled over Hux’s lips, keeping contact everywhere he could while he slicked his cock.

With maddening nonchalance, Ren kept talking, ignoring Hux’s desperation. “You know some of the Sith were hedonists. While the Jedi believed they channeled power through abstinence, the Sith thought they could gain more through passion.”

“Which do you believe?” Hux gasped, the blunt head of Ren’s cock pushing for entrance now.

“It’s better if I show you. Do you want to see?”

Hux thought he might shatter as the head of Ren’s cock breached him. “Yes.” It was a cry more than word. He tried again, barely managing to get the words out. “Show me.”

Ren’s cock pushing in was rapturous agony. Violation and consummation all at once. Ache blooming into ravenous lust. Not quite pleasure, but a delicious longing for more that made Hux thrust his hips up, eager when Ren’s movements were too slow. 

“Open and relax for me. No, I already have your body, give your mind freely to me.” Ren’s voice was low, rumbling through Hux’s chest where their bodies pressed so tightly together.

Searching for tranquility through his breathing, the way Echani training taught, Hux opened his eyes to discover Ren was suddenly everywhere: inside Hux’s body, inside his mind. Hux knew they shared this somehow and so he reached out mentally, confused by the sensation, mimicking what he felt Ren doing to touch Hux’s mind. Reaching past the pleasure, something fractured and gave way, a door opened on the surface of the sun.

Colors Hux could taste, sounds he could see, morphing into emotions and memories. Suffering beyond all possibility of endurance. Hatred, rage. Deep, desperate loneliness. Love for his mother, for the Light. Crushing, confusing longing for his father’s regard. Desolation at knowing it was already lost to him forever. Fear circling back to suffering. Ren’s mind was a blast furnace of such intense emotions Hux wondered for a second if either of them could possibly survive it.

Then that imaginary door, that window into Ren’s psyche, snapped shut and there was only the most excruciating ecstasy, similarly too intense to bear. Ren’s hand closed on Hux’s cock, bringing him back to his body, but Ren’s mind still rode him.

Ren thrusting deep inside Hux’s ass spiked electricity through every nerve, expanded by the ghost sensation of pushing his cock into his own tight heat. Everything Kylo experienced, Hux did in tandem, an intoxicating dual stimulation. Pulsing ribbons of pleasure tightened in Hux’s lower belly threatening orgasm as Ren’s strong hand stroked him, amplified by the feeling of his cock in his hand that wasn’t his hand, not Hux’s: too big, too calloused.

All sensation blurred, looping infinitely. Hux’s desire peaked in a delirious frenzy when he comprehended that Ren vicariously experienced the stretch of Hux’s tight, hot ass, both inside and out. They moved together in a finer, more perfect rhythm than they’d found on the training floor.

Vision blurring, Hux wiped his face and discovered his hand wet with unbidden tears. He wondered if they were for the loss of that deeper connection they’d briefly shared, or the memory of Ren’s ecstatic pain. Or was he unraveling from his exposed emotions, freed after being suppressed for so long?

Hux’s body spun out pleasure in snapping voltaic impulses at the tangible sensations in his body and the ghostly shared ones of Ren’s experience. Ren’s orgasm built, a communal exaltation, a trigger, pushing them each closer to edge as the circuit of desire channeled through them.

They came together like a star collapsing. A supernova of mind and body fusing together to form a void in the universe where everything and nothing existed. Past, present, and future simultaneous until the surge of silvery electrical ecstasy filling both of them whited-out all thought.

Hux’s first new memory was the matched rhythm of their heartbeats. His consciousness returned and he found them clutched tightly together as if, dying from this overload, they tried to stay connected, to remain _one_ no matter what.

Inside his head Hux was alone with a new sorrow. The desire for communion was a desperate thirst for an intimacy only possible through Ren’s considerable power. Hux whimpered when Ren’s cock softened and slipped from his body. He caressed Ren’s skin, wanting to be perceptually inside it again, to destroy the barrier that kept them apart.

Equilibrium restored, his body entirely his own, Hux’s return to reality crushed the preposterous fantasy of being joined to Ren forever. Their breathing changed, heartbeats unsynced.

Recall of their rapturous merging trickled into Hux’s consciousness. Hux would never break free the terrible horror of feeling shredded apart by the two sides of the Force, the endless battle that raged inside Kylo Ren’s heart. 

The enigma of Ren unfurled in Hux’s head, memories newly formed revealing the source of Ren’s duplexity with the Force, the colossal secret of Ren’s parentage. Hux shivered with knowledge that, in the wrong hands, could destroy them both. Ren’s brash demeanor, the confidence he’d displayed coming to Hux’s berth tonight was as much smokescreen as the mask he wore.

Ren stirred and spoke softly, right into Hux’s ear, the whisper prickling Hux’s still sensitive skin, tingling over his whole skull. 

“Snoke knows all my secrets, Hux, there’s nothing you can use against me.” Ren pulled Hux tightly to him, chest to chest, their heated skin sticking with sweat. Ren’s lips brushed the side of Hux’s neck. “When I opened to you, you also opened to me. I have seen every second of your life. Your dignity and strength, your drive, but I know your fears and secrets too. I know what you did to get where you are.”

“Snoke knows my past,” Hux said with more defiance than he felt. His bones were liquid. He was held together only by Ren’s embrace, by the control he’d given over and could never take back.

“What I can give you, you can never get from anyone else. Without me you’ll leave a trail of lovers dead at your own hand like Tuana, until even Snoke can’t protect you. Without me you will be your own undoing.”

Hux shook his head, denying what was surely true.

Ren stroked Hux’s face, a gesture too tender for his fierce expression. “You want to rule. I will bring my Knights to kneel in your service when you are Emperor. You and I are bound now. Love is nothing but a trifle when you truly know another person. I know you, Hux—and you know me. We will go forward together, equal, strong enough to take the known universe for the Supreme Leader, for ourselves, however we decide to share it.”

Ren’s mouth closed over Hux’s, arresting any answer he could give. A frisson of arousal shimmered down Hux’s spine, a pale thread of what they’d just shared, a reminder that he knew ravenous longing now, and all the command of the galaxy couldn’t satisfy him the way Kylo Ren just had.

⟠⟠⟠


End file.
